Into the dragons' den

Chief football writer

Wednesday 10 October 2012

THOSE Scotland players who believe that they were given a rough ride by the national media after the first two World Cup ties might want to take a moment to reflect on this: at least they weren't born in Wales.

Serbia's Branislav Ivanovic celebrates scoring against Wales last month. Picture: Getty Images

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Michael Grant

When Serbia tore the Welsh apart last month, the country's media went to town on its team's inept performance.

The Western Daily Mail's coverage was so acidic the newspaper could have burned through breakfast tables all over Cardiff. One-by-one, those responsible for losing 6-1 in Novi Sad were shredded. Boaz Myhill: "dreadful", "hesitant", "helpless". Chris Gunter: "Overrun". Darcy Blake: "A catalogue of errors". Ashley Williams: "Pulled around the park". Adam Matthews: "Had a torrid time". Joe Allen: "Wasn't fit". David Edwards: "Impact limited to say the least". Aaron Ramsey: "Did himself no favours". Steve Morrison: "Should have worked harder". Simon Church: "Not good enough".

Gareth Bale got off the lightest – "at least he broke the scoring drought" – but every single member of the team was given a pitiful rating of only four out of 10. Underneath those marks, the first online readers' comment said: "Four seems generous for some participants in this shambles."The general perception that Wales are a mess is not exactly helpful for Craig Levein, the Scotland manager, as higher expectations pile the pressure on him to deliver a victory. However, the unflattering assessments of Friday's opponents are based on fact. Since Chris Coleman replaced the late Gary Speed as manager, they have been beaten 2-0 by both Mexico and Bosnia-Herzegovina in friendlies and then 2-0 and 6-1 by Belgium and Serbia in their opening World Cup double-header. The latter, their most recent outing a month ago, was their heaviest defeat in 16 years. All sorts of speculation has circled around the Welsh camp, including damaging suggestions that Coleman's training methods are unpopular. There has been a Levein/Fletcheresque issue between the manager and Craig Bellamy, too. A knee injury means the talismanic forward, now 33, cannot play either against Scotland or Croatia next Tuesday but Coleman has made a so-far-unanswered appeal to Bellamy to clarify whether he still wants to play international football.A country that has not qualified for a World Cup since 1958 and never been at the finals of the European Championships is well used to serial disappointment. For decades Wales have been shackled by their own history, with one failed campaign after another leading to low seeding positions and inescapably hard qualifying groups. They grew used to that long ago, but results under Speed – four wins in his last four matches as manager – had hinted at a promising future until the much-admired 42-year-old was tragically found dead in his home last November.Coleman's reign has been deeply unimpressive so far, up to the nadir of losing half-a-dozen goals to a Serbia team who had drawn a blank at Hampden three days earlier. It is any manager's inalienable right to pick who he wants as his captain, but Coleman's decision to remove the armband from Ramsey, the Arsenal midfielder, and give it to Williams, the Swansea City centre-back, went down badly with many, even being interpreted by some as disrespectful towards Speed.Such has been the general unhappiness about Coleman that Speed's father, Roger, felt moved to speak out on his behalf yesterday. "Get behind Chris Coleman, for me and Gary, please," said Roger Speed. "I wouldn't like the job he's got to do to take over after Gary because Gary was doing an absolutely tremendous job. I really, really feel for Chris. Some supporters, the Welsh, can be a little bit fickle because things are going down," he said. "It's no good sacking him or getting rid of him. Get behind him. I've known Chris since Gary and Chris were playing together. They were mates. All I can do is wish him all the best."If Wales had gathered some momentum, Friday's tie might have been held in the Millennium Stadium, which holds 75,000, but instead it will be in the City Stadium – Cardiff City's ground – with its capacity of only 26,800. A full ground will create a hotter atmosphere but the biggest obstacle towards Scotland justifying their status as narrow favourites will be the typical reaction shown by most teams after a particularly heavy defeat. Having conceded six in Serbia, Coleman – already criticised for being defensive and one-dimensional in his tactics – is likely to prioritise a clean sheet in order to restore some credibility. A back four protected by a tight midfield four or five inevitably will be difficult for Scotland, even with Steven and Darren Fletcher back, to break through.If the Fletchers are Scotland's most celebrated players, the Welsh equivalents are Ramsey, Liverpool's £15m signing Joe Allen and, above all, the force of nature that is Tottenham's Gareth Bale. In a team of otherwise humdrum talents, Bale is the focal point. He has twice been injured by Scotland's Charlie Adam and called the Scottish midfielder a "coward" after the second incident in a pre-season match between Spurs and Liverpool in Baltimore. In 2011, Bale had been out for three months because of an ankle injury suffered in a challenge by Adam, who was then with Blackpool.But the Dundonian played down the history yesterday. "What happened in the past happened in the past, the most important thing is Scotland getting a result." Bale, he said, was "probably one of the best players in the world on his day. But I don't think they are a one-man team. They have a number of players, like we have, who can win the game on their day. Are Wales in turmoil, really? I don't think they are. They have good players." Much of Wales would agree with that: it's the manager that many of them want to see replaced, not the players. Neither Coleman nor Levein can afford to lose on Friday. They'll take their places in the dug-outs carrying very similar baggage.

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